Education Services

Schools, academies and colleges rely on various outsourced services. This can include staple education resources such as classroom furniture, catering for school dinners, managed backroom services, facilities management, digital resources, and governance support (e.g. academy conversions and mergers). UK schools are estimated to spend £900m p/a on education technology alone. Schools and colleges are increasingly also having to compete for funding as suppliers, covering everything from school improvement to securing funding for new learner provision.

Projects

Birmingham Education Partnership (BEP)

BEP is an umbrella group for schools in Birmingham. We were hired to develop a forward business plan, providing a roadmap for future funding following the conclusion of a local authority school improvement contract. The plan was informed through a review of BEP literature and face to face interviews with staff and trustees. It included a SWOT analysis, overview of sustainability models, and a series of finance, diversification, and structural goals.

Chorus Education Trust

Chorus Education Trust is a multi-academy trust comprised of primary and secondary schools across South Yorkshire and Derbyshire. They commissioned Carley Consult to support the production of a bid to the Strategic School Improvement Fund, which involved project scoping, detailing activities and identification of outcomes. Chorus had very successfully piloted innovative approaches to increasing literacy in early years pupils, and aimed to develop a similar programme to support pupils as they transition from primary to secondary education, as evidence shows there is often a plateauing or improvement at this point. The bid clearly identified measurable outcomes and the requisite inputs, demonstrating how the benefits would be shared far beyond the academies in the Chorus Education Trust.

Ninestiles Academy Trust

Ninestiles Academy Trust comprises of primary and secondary schools in Birmingham. We were hired by Ninestiles to develop an investment case for Cockshut Hill Technology College, to be shared with the Regional Schools Commissioner and EFA. Cockshut had previously been described as a “broken school” by HMI, although was since benefiting from collaborative support from Ninestiles. Our report identified potential funding solutions which may enable Cockshut to become part of Ninestiles.